Means for insuring registration of street-car fares



(No ModeL) y D. W. HARPER. MEANS FOR INSURING REGISTRATION 0F STREET GAR PARES. No. 561,314. Patented June 2,1896.

"111' lil l im l a I@ mung a his fare or not.

NiTnD STATES PATENT OFFICILo DANIEL IV. HARPER, OF

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

MEANS FOR INSURING REGISTRATION OF STREET-CAR FARES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 561,314, dated June 2, 1896. Application filed September 24, 1892. Serial No. 446,803. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom, t may concern,.- Be it known that I, DANIEL W. HARPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Birmin gham, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Insurin g the Registration of StreeteOar Fares, dac. and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference m arked thereon which form a part of this specification.

The objectof my invention is to prevent peculations by conductors upon street-car lin es and others in similar positions by insuring that a record or register shall be made for each passenger carried or fare received.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows a perspective view of the device which I employ in carrying out my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one layer or ply thereof. Fig. 3 is a section of the device.

Under the systems in vogue with street-car lines which look to the protection of the proprietors of the road against the dishonesty of its conductors or other employees itis a matter of indifference or unconcernto the average passenger as to whether the conductor of the car on which he may be riding has registered Having paid his passage he regards it as neither his business nor his duty to see that the conductor has registered the fare, regarding the matter as one which rests entirely between the company and the conductor. As this lack of interest upon the part of the passenger is due to the fact that as far as he is concerned there is nothing at stake, it will be obvious that if it can be made to be to his profit to see that his fare is faithfully registered by the conductor the above condition of things will disappear and it will be morally certain that the registration will be made. In devising my invention, therefore, I have hadin view the obtaining. of the co` an inducement to compel the registra-tion of his fare.,

In practicing my invention, instead of having the passenger simply pay the conductor his fare in money and requiring the conductor to register the fare by using a punch and a trip-slip, I have the conductor give the passenger` in return for his money aticket of the peculiar structure shown in the drawings, which ticket it shall be the duty of the conductor to punch with one of the ordinary registering-punches. This ticket consists of two or more layers or plies A A, gummed or otherwise secured together in such manner as to enable them` tobe easily separated. To make their separation easy, I provide each with a like-shaped tab or extension a, which is not gummed to the other and which can be grasped by the thumb and linger. 'On its outside the ticket can be printed or engraved with any suitable matter, as in the case of the ordinarycar-ticket; but on the inner face of one ply when two plies are used, or upon the middle ply when three are employed, I indicate, in the case of a certain proportion of the tickets issued to the conductor, say one in every six, that said ply is good for one fare, but only when punched. It will thus be seen that the possibility of getting a ply or ticket which will be good for another ride, but only when punched, will induce the passenger to see to and insist on the punching of the ticket as he receives it from the conductor. The street-car company thus enlists the services of its patrons and thereby reduces the possibility of loss by the peculations of the conductor to a minimum, and yet while paying for the services rendered does so in a way that is not very expensive, and it will be seen that while an element of chance exists still in a given period, say a year, the regular patrons of the road will share almost equally in the reception of the extra tickets.

Of course these tickets can be sold in quantities to passengers, as is done with ordinary tickets.

operation of the passenger by offering to him Having thus described my invention, what I claim to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A ticket composed of several separable plies or layers one of Which has an indication of special value and is concealed until the plies or layers of the ticket are separated, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A ticket made of several separate plies or layers one of which has an indication of special value, and each formed with am eX- 1o tension a, substantially as and for the purpose specied.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

DANIEL W. HARPER. Witnesses:

FRANKLIN H. HOUGH, W. CLARENCE DUVALL. 

